Meanwhile, Team Samui make their way to Konoha, surprised at its destruction. Samui takes the Fourth Raikage's letter to Tsunade, only to discover that Tsunade is in a coma. She demands to see the acting Hokage, and Danzō enters the tent and proclaim himself as the village's Sixth Hokage. The letter requests that the village take action on missing-ninSasuke Uchiha and to hand over all intel gathered on him. Danzō agrees, and passes down an official order to eliminate Sasuke.

Sai is told by Danzō to keep an eye on Naruto, whom he promises not to harm at the moment due to the fact that Naruto is viewed as the village's hero. Kiba finds Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, who are about to leave the village, and relays what has transpired. Naruto and Sakura attempt to extract information from Sai regarding Danzō, but Sai reveals that he has a cursed seal on his tongue that prevents him from doing so. He tells the duo that all members of Root are branded with the seal to eradicate any attempts of interrogation should they be captured. Naruto asks Sai why Danzō has called out for Sasuke's assassination, which shocks Sai since he was not made aware of the fact.

The mention of Sasuke's name has the trio held at sword point by Karui and Omoi, who stuns them by revealing that Sasuke kidnapped their master and is a member of the Akatsuki. As Sakura begins to cry, the two Kumo-nin berate them for not being able to understand what it feels like to know that their master may have been killed. Recalling how he felt when Jiraiya died, Naruto asks whether their master is a jinchūriki, much to their shock. Naruto tells them that the Akatsuki capture jinchūriki alive and therefore their master is not dead yet, and notifies them that he is a jinchūriki as well. He agrees to help them look for their master, and Karui accepts his offer, asking him to debrief them about Sasuke on the way.

Elsewhere, Taka continue on their path towards Konoha, only to be blocked by Madara. Sasuke tells Madara that Taka has left the Akatsuki, but Madara explains that they blundered in their attempt to catch the Eight-Tails and thus must make amends. His associate, Zetsu, appears and notifies Madara that Danzō has been made Hokage, much to Sasuke's indignation, since Danzō was one of Konoha's elders who forced Itachi to massacre his own clan. Madara reveals that Konoha had been destroyed by Pain while Zetsu notifies the group that a Five Kage Summit has been called.